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The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies and The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design are pleased to announce the selection of this year’s most promising and emerging European design talent for 2009. A total of 60 architects and industrial designers from architecture and industrial design and manufacturing firms across Europe were selected by a jury of architects that convened in Chicago June 2009.

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The winner of the Formland Design Award, Josefine Bentzen, was overwhelmed when she received the award during the opening of Formland Autumn 2009 on Friday at MCH Messecenter Herning. The design award was presented to the designer and the ToddlerCompany for a new and modern version of children’s cutlery, which focuses on comfort, functionality and play.

- Winning the Formland Design Award is a great honour. We are here at the Formland fair for the first time and it is here that we begin marketing of our children’s cutlery. We could not have got off to a better start, says Josefine Bentzen, who was presented with the award by the Director of the Danish Design Association, Gitte Just.

Design recognition in 2003

The idea for the product came in 2003, when Josefine Bentzen created children’s cutlery as a study project at the Danish Design School in Copenhagen. In the same year the project was shown at the Formland fair, where it came first in the DesignSpot competition for young design students.

- The children’s cutlery looked a lot different back then, not like it does today. But the idea was the same. To create a product, which makes everyday life easier for families with young children, says Josefine Bentzen.

After Formland the idea was returned to the drawer – and five years would go by before it was taken up again. Josefine Bentzen has spent the past year working on functionality, form and design in cooperation with Fabrikators, who are the company behind ToddlerCompany. Production is now ready to begin in Skive – and from 1 November the product will be shipped to both Danish and foreign stores.

Launch in 30 countries

- ToddlerTable Cutlery is being launched in more than 30 countries around the world and we are expecting a great deal of our children’s cutlery. It has been really well received so far. Japan in particular has been really interested in the product. Now we have won a design award in Denmark and are moreover nominated for an innovation award in Germany, says Peter Andersen, partner in ToddlerCompany.

ToddlerTable Cutlery consists of a knife, fork and spoon in four fashionable colours – orange, blue, green and red. The cutlery is aimed at toddlers and small children above the age of six months. The recommended retail price is DKK 299. From spring 2010 the series will be expanded. ToddlerTable Cutlery will also offer a cup, plate and bowl in the same colours and design.

The famous Milan furniture fair will be opening on Tuesday. For the second year in a row Danish design and craftsmanship will be at the forefront when the fair opens its doors for the best and most innovative design in the world. Among the Danish exhibitors will be designer Louise Campbell, who will be exhibiting her new ‘Splatterplatter’. Ground-breaking unique dishes in dyed porcelain created utilising the shapes of the new ’Elements’ service, which she has recently designed for Royal Copenhagen.

Danish design and craftsmanship has achieved an unique international position. This is underlined at the famous Milan furniture fair, where Danish Crafts have gathered some of Denmark’s most talented and up-and-coming craftspeople and designers, who will be exhibiting unique work at he Mindcraft 09 exhibition. Among the exhibitors are Ole Jensen, Cecilie Manz, Christian Flindt, Ditte Hammerstrøm and Louise Campbell. Campbell will be exhibiting a range of unique dishes called Splatterplatter, which were created at Royal Copenhagen’s workshops in a tremendous combination of playfulness, wild gestures and messiness!

The splatter plates are sponsored by Royal Copenhagen, who has given Louise Campbell free hands to express herself on the porcelain dishes from the new Elements service, which were the result of three-years intensive cooperation with Royal Copenhagen.

Splatterplatter are dishes created in dyed porcelain, which is a completely unpredictable process. Each colour affects the paste in its own way and the firing and glazing turns up further surprises. It is therefore impossible to control the result; instead the designer must allow the colours to do just what they want to. “One of my favourite things is a table or a palette where a bunch of colours have been mixed and spilled. Usually, this accidentally decorated surface is far more beautiful than what the colours were intended for. Splatterplatter marks a liberation from the careful planning of patterns. Sometimes, it’s good to leave things up to chance, even for a designer”, says Louise Campbell.

Louise Campbell designs all kinds of products in all kinds of sizes, some commercial and some experimental. She has had her own studio since 1996 and her list of clients include Louis Poulsen, Zanotta, Muuto, Hay and Royal Copenhagen. In May 2009, she has a solo exhibition at Maison du Danmark in Paris, and in 2002 she did “Waiting Rooms” at Trapholt. Louise is a highly acknowledged designer; among other honours she has received the three-year working grant from the Danish Arts Foundation and a grant from Denmarks Nationalbank’s Anniversary Foundation, the Finn Juhl Prize, the EDIDA international design award, the Good Design Award from Chicago Athenaeum and a Wallpaper award. In 2008 Danish magazine Bo Bedre selected Elements as Design of the Year.

Louise Campbell does not restrict herself to one material but works in all conceivable materials. In her own description, her working process is as follows:

Always start from scratch

Be sure there is a good reason for every decision made

Dare to be different

On a good day, Louise draws inspiration from just about anything. On a bad day – from nothing. “Inspiration requires a certain state of mind and cannot be taken for granted,” she says.

A new talent gets a chance…

Time to design – new talent award is a design award with focus on the needs of young talents. The price includes three months residency at the National Workshops for Arts and Crafts, 50.000 DKK donated by The Danish Ministry of Culture and two weeks exhibition at the Normann Copenhagen Flagship Store. This year the winner is also granted career coaching as part of the award.

Deadline for submission is June 24, 2009 at www.timetodesign.eu.

UNIQUE PLATFORM FOR GROWING TALENTS

Time to design – new talent award was established in 2008 as a new and untraditional co-operation between The National Workshops for Arts and Crafts (SVKH), Normann Copenhagen og Link UP – network for young architects and designers in Denmark. The purpose is to create a unique platform for design talents within the design business through a co-operation between the private and public sector – a platform that contributes to ones further professional career. 

The combination of the residency at SVKH and the exhibition in Normann Copenhagen provides great opportunity for the winning designer. Competent guidance and access to the highly acknowledged facilities offered by SVKH forms the foundation for the designer to concentrate on his or hers work. The exhibition in Normann Copenhagen provides an excellent opportunity to show ones work and talent to the public.

The guest jury members 2009 consists of three competent Danish designers: Mathilde Aggebo, Dorte Østergaard Jakobsen and Thomas Bentzen besides the permanent members: Poul Madsen, director and co-founder of Normann Copenhagen, Frederik Hardvendel, director of The National Workshops for Arts and Crafts and Jesper Nørgaard Pagh, designer and co-founder of Link UP.

Winner in 2008 was architect Anne Romme with her sculptural screen and room divider, Saturated Porosity – freestanding screen. Through ornaments made in wood Anne Romme created a sensuous and sculptural screen and room divider. The project is based on geometry and digital design and production methods and was on display at the Normann Copenhagen Flagship Store from November 27 to December 11, 2008.

In relation to winning the award Anne explains: ”It has been a huge experience and great knowledge for me to receive this award. Normally I

work with different projects at one time but it has meant a lot to have the time and space to concentrate being at The National Workshops for Arts and Crafts. To be in an environment where you are surrounded by persons who are enthusiastic and at the same time receiving advice and guidance from qualifed consultants – this has been indispensable.”  

The winner will be announced end of August at a press conference. Here after the residency at The National Workshops for Arts and Crafts will begin. The exhibition at the Normann Copenhagen Flagship Store runs from November 26 to December 10, 2009.

Read more about Time to design – new talent award at www.timetodesign.eu.

FOR FURTHER

For further information about Time to design – new talent award contact:

Frederik Hardvendel, Director, National Workshops for Arts and Crafts or

Ida Sofe Minke Anderson, PR Assistant, National Workshops for Arts and Crafts

Phone: +45 32 96 05 10 or +45 20 62 15 45

Email: timetodesign@svkh.dk

FACTS:

/  2008 was the frst year of the Time to design – new talent award

/  The award is aimed at young designers in the beginning of their career

/  If accommodation is needed; an apartment is available during the tree month residency

/  The National Workshops for Arts and Crafts offers nine different workshops within wood, metal, 

  graphic, photo, textile, fabric, clay, preservation and it.

READ MORE ABOUT THE PARTNERS

/  The National Workshops for Arts and Crafts: www.svkh.dk

/  Normann Copenhagen: www.normann-copenhagen.com

/  Link UP: www.linkup.nu

/  Missing Ink: www.missingink.dk (contributes with career coaching in 2009)

April 2009

Georg Jensen Takes Danish Design to the Next Level

Scandinavian luxury lifestyle brand Georg Jensen has appointed designer Todd Bracher Creative Director of the brand and head of a new creative force consisting of the Georg Jensen internal design team, the Georg Jensen designer network and Copenhagen based design consultants OeO. 

April 30, 2009 – Today Georg Jensen announced that Todd Bracher will take the reins at Georg Jensen as Creative Director, responsible for the full range of Georg Jensen products from jewellery and watches to flatware and hollowware. Todd Bracher will take up his new position on May 1st.  Together with Georg Jensen’s in-house product development team and Georg Jensen’s unique designer network, Bracher and OeO will energize and align the future design and brand vision. 

As part of the new strategy Todd Bracher will be working together with his long-time partner Thomas Lykke and Anne-Marie Buemann from OeO, a Danish based, and strategy-driven design company with vast experience from the design industry. The new set-up allows Georg Jensen to unite the best of today’s Danish and international design competencies with a strong strategic and commercial approach to new product introductions.  

“I am thrilled and honoured to be joining Georg Jensen. To be part of this brand and to help sculpt its vision has been a long-term dream for me. Georg Jensen has a specific language and intelligence, it communicates on so many levels.  The possibilities are endless and we intend to explore them”, Todd Bracher says. 

The appointment of Todd Bracher is part of the strategy that CEO Ulrik Garde Due introduced when he joined the company from British top fashion label Burberry last year. A strategy, which is turning the traditional Danish Silversmith into a Scandinavian luxury lifestyle brand with an integrated product range. 

“Todd Bracher was an obvious choice for the position as Creative Director. He is perfectly aware of the brand’s many qualities and appreciates the craftsmanship and the unique sense of style. Yet, he has a young and fresh approach to continue the creative developments. I am convinced he will be able to take Georg Jensen to the next level”, Ulrik Garde Due says. 

Since 1904 Georg Jensen has succeeded in attracting and working with some of the most talented designers around the globe. One of these talented designers is Todd Bracher who has designed for Georg Jensen since 2004 and will now be in charge of identifying and supporting the next generation of design stars, joining such legendary artists as Georg Jensen, Arne Jacobsen and Henning Koppel. 

When, back in 1999, Todd moved to Denmark to study in Copenhagen at the Danish Design School he soon became fascinated by the Danish design tradition and shortly after launched his own beautiful sculptural furniture and home accessories for Danish and international companies such as Fritz Hansen and Zanotta. 

“The works of Georg Jensen himself, Henning Koppel and Arne Jacobsen have shaped who I am as a designer and are the very reason why I eventually moved to Denmark to look ‘behind the scenes’ at the source of these works. I discovered that the forms of the Georg Jensen collection capture the generosity and elegance that is built into the Danes and their way of life”, says Todd, who, at Georg Jensen, will be defining the brand’s future design philosophy.  

“Design is much more than creating forms and shapes. It is about the heart and mind that has produced it. For us to maintain brand coherence we must define what the heart must feel and the mind think and the rest will follow”, Todd Bracher says. 

Critics might argue that asking a foreigner to take the Georg Jensen design language into the future is not the obvious thing to do. That it would take a native Dane to understand the true essence of Georg Jensen – the tradition, the story and the role the Silversmithy has played in creating the term Danish Design. 

“The heritage is huge and the responsibility is vast. Part of Todd’s training was here in Copenhagen, which mixed with his international experience allows us to get an external point of view of Danish design with an internal understanding. For me it is bringing in the right person who in his soul understands where Georg Jensen is coming from and who has the skills, the courage and the ability to bring Georg Jensen and Danish design into the next century. To me Todd Bracher is that person,” Ulrik Garde Due states. 

Ulrik Garde Due, CEO  Todd Bracher, Creative Director

August 26th the Cultural Minister of Denmark, Mr. Brian Mikkelsen, presented the winner of Time to design – new talent award 2008. The winner is granted with three months residency at the National Workshops for Arts and Crafts, 50.000 DKK donated by the Cultural Ministry and two weeks exhibition in Normann Copenhagen Flagship Store. The winner in 2008 is architect Anne Romme, who has participated with the project entitled “Saturated Porosity – freestanding screen”. 

The winner project is inspired by abstract geometrical patterns, which traditionally has been used to create an atmosphere in cultures where figurative depiction is not allowed. Through ornaments made in wood Anne Romme will create a sensuous and sculptural screen and room divider. The project is based on geometry and digital design and production methods.   

The jury’s opinion

”Anne Romme has through her careful work proved that the project, when it is realized, is able to create an exciting, sensuous and diversified influence of the room in which it is being used. In addition the architectural qualities of Anne Romme’s sculptural screens can have large effect when the project is being released. Our opinion is that it will be of huge importance that Anne Romme can have the opportunity to carry out her project in full scale with the use of the excellent facilities, which can be found at the National Workshops for Arts and Crafts. At this place it will be possible for her to make scale models, work with material try-out, test moulding techniques and surface treatments as well as testing light effects”.

Anne Romme is educated as an architect from Aarhus School of Architecture and in 2008 she achieved a Post-professional Masters Degree from Princeton University School of Architecture in USA. Today she lives and works in New York and she is the image of a young Danish designer making her mark abroad. With Time to design – new talent award Anne Romme is granted with the opportunity to realize a very intriguing project, a project which can be the take-off for her future career.

Unique platform for design talents

Time to design – new talent award is a new design award focusing on the needs of young talents. The award is based on a new and untraditional co-operation between the National Workshops for Arts and Crafts, Normann Copenhagen and Link UP – a network for young architects and designers in Denmark. The cooperation between the private and the public sector form a distinctive platform for the growing talent and facilitate room and space for challenging projects and ideas – a platform that can contribute to the winner’s further professional career.

The Danish Minister for Culture, Brian Mikkelsen, says about the award: 

”At  the  Danish Ministry  of  Culture  we  are  happy  to witness  the  active  efforts, which many participants do to strengthen the position of present Danish design both at home and abroad. In  the centre of  these efforts we see  the award Time  to design as a good example of a new and pro active  initiative, which can develop the conditions  for young design talents. With this award an ambitious platform  for young designers’ professional possibilities has been created. The award makes room for talent and potential, room to put the ideas into practice and room for experiments.”

The target group for the award is designers in the beginning of their career, who has already showed potential and talent. The award will be an annual event and every year a highly qualified jury with three permanent and a group of guest jury members will select the best design.  

Read more about Time to design – new talent award at www.timetodesign.eu 

For further information about Time to design – new talent award contact:

Frederik Hardvendel, Director, National Workshops for Arts and Crafts or

Ida Sofie Minke Anderson, PR Assistant, National Workshops for Arts and Crafts

Phone: +45 32 96 05 10 or +45 20 62 15 45

Email: timetodesign@svkh.dk

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